Determination And Pride
by prosfan
Summary: Generally Bodie being stubborn and a littl stupid. Rated T for curse language. One Shot.


As Doyle turned the corner, he sighed angrily. Bodie was walking fast away from him down the street. Walking a lot faster than he should be. He started to walk faster and catch up. Yet again he was going to have to make the stupid bastard see sense.

"Bodie!" He called out to his friend. Anyone else wouldn't have noticed any response. But Doyle knew Bodie well enough to see. He saw the barely perceptible straightening of Bodie's back, the stiffening of the shoulders. He saw the warning signs. Still, he drew level on the right of Bodie, ignoring the stony look on his partners face.

"Doyle" Bodie said abruptly.

"Bodie, what are you doing?" Doyle asked, waiting for another curt reply. He was not disappointed.

"Walking." After a few seconds, "Its a mainly solitary sport you know." Doyle rose to the bait, even though he saw it for exactly what it was.

"Slow down. Bodie, what are you trying to prove?"

"Nothing. Why are you here exactly?"

"Came to see you." This was going to be tricky.

"Check up on me?"

"Someone's bloody got to haven't they? In case you pull a stunt like this."

"Stunt! What stunt? Fucking hell Doyle, I'm out for a walk."

"Bodie! You've been shot." Yep. Definitely tricky.

"It was a month ago. I'm fine."

"You've only been out of hospital for 4 days." Exasperation crept into Ray Doyle's voice. "You've only been properly conscious for a week and a half."

"And now I'm fine" Bodie said in a tone of voice that one would used on a child when trying to teach them advanced quantum physics.

"Bullshit! I felt like crap for months after I was shot."

"That," said Bodie, "was different. You were shot in the heart-"

"And being shot in the lung is so different eh?" Doyle demanded.

"Yeah. It is actually. Lungs healed, walking fine. Except for a annoying buzzing sound coming from my right." Doyle sighed.

"Doctors said-"

"What the hell do they know? I know how I feel ok? I'm fine. I feel fine. And I can walk as fast as I bloody well like. Got it?" Now Doyle may have given up at this point if it wasn't for the fact that that he could see sweat on Bodie's brow. And the fact his face was a shade paler than normal.

"You. Dammit Bodie, you're your own worst enemy, you know that?" He saw Bodie attempting to speed up and carried on. "I should just leave you to your own devices. And then, when you go and overwork your self and sodding collapse, then we'll see who was right. Eh?" He gave Bodie a sidelong look. To his dismay the determination hadn't diluted one iota. Unfortunately, Bodie's determined look was somewhat undermined by the stumble that accompanied it. That and he instinctively grabbed Ray for support. Doyle grinned triumphantly.

"I'm right aren't I? I'm right Bodie, and you fucking know it." Bodie glared at him, acutely aware of a pain in his chest.

"What d'you want? Fucking medal?" He said, trying to keep the pain from being evident to his partner.

"No. I want you to see sense. And let me take you back to your flat so you can do what you're supposed to be doing."

"And...pray tell...What's that?" Try as he might, Bodie couldn't hold back the gasps any longer.

Doyle looked at his partner and was transported back to a month previously. Where he had seen this idiot of a man go down. Sat by him as blood trickled out of his mouth. Tried to ignore the foam. Tried to block out the gurgles coming out of his friends throat as he called the ambulance. Tried the entire ambulance journey to kid himself that it'd be ok. And failed on all three. He'd never admit it to Bodie, but he sometimes dreamt about that night. Sometimes he was too late. Sometimes, Cowley's grass didn't make contact. Didn't tell them in time that he knew where Bodie was. He knew Bodie had dreams about it. He'd spent at least three and a half weeks watching him as he slept. And those moans and murmurings did not convince him of a nightmare free sleep. He snapped back to the present, Bodie's laboured breathing bringing him back with a jolt. He noticed, with no satisfaction, that he was right. Bodie had sat down on a garden wall, obviously not able to stand any longer.

"Those breathing exercises you were supposed to be doing." He saw he winces Bodie was trying to hide. "You know, those ones you obviously haven't been doing.". Bodie smile half heartedly at him.

"You are one...tenacious bastard...were you a bleeding...sniffer dog in...a...pre..previous life." Doyle grinned sensing victory. Holding out his hand, he replied with just a hint of smugness in his voice.

"Nah. Come one old son, cars just over there" Bodie stared at him for a few seconds, before taking his hand. He hauled himself up, gasping as he did so. Doyle was right. He really wasn't up to it yet. He laughed humourlessly to himself. _Look at you. Crack CI5 agent you are. Walk two streets from your house, and your mate has to give you a lift back. Pathetic. _Doyle, seeing the expression and almost reading his thoughts, shook his head.

"Bodie. Its gonna take time. A week and a bit out of hospital and you aren't gonna be running any marathons." Seeing his friend nod in agreement, he smiled. Bodie'd recover soon enough. And he'd be fully operative soon after that. Provided he didn't do anything stupid. Like try and power walk. On his own. After surgery. Ray laughed slightly as they got into the car

"What?" gasped Bodie.

"Nothing" said Doyle innocently. "You wanna go get checked out?" Bodie glared at him pointedly.

"Back to yours then" he said as he put the car into gear. They drove along a while before a thought occurred to Doyle. "You got the meds you need?" It was then he noticed that Bodie's breathing, although still laboured and sounding pretty painful had fallen into a rhythm. He glanced at his sleeping, clearly exhausted partner, and chuckled softly.

"Sleep you daft bugger. Maybe when you wake up, you'll see what a fool you've been." And as he pulled away from the kerb, he wondered how long it'd be before this scenario was repeated. He gave it about two days.


End file.
